1. Brief summary of this semester:
When I Whistle (approximately 2.5 weeks: )
World Lit papers 1 & 2 revisions (1.5 weeks)
Hard Times (3 weeks)
Review of Heart of Darkness (1 – 2 classes)
IB dead week and mock exams, March 5 – 16
Clear Light of Day (HL only) (3 weeks)
Review for IB exams (2.5 weeks)
IB exams, May 2 – 22

2. JAPAN

3. The Japanese Aesthetic
aesthetic(s): branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste and with the creation and appreciation of beauty; also, a particular theory or conception of beauty or art (Merriam Webster)
To the Japanese, aesthetics are a basic part of daily life rather than an academic or philosophical discipline. The ancient ideals into which Japanese aesthetics are traditionally divided are:
WABI: transient and stark beauty
SABI: beauty of natural patina (sheen on surface made by age and use) and aging
YUGEN: profound grace and subtlety

4. Calligraphy
A highly esteemed branch of traditional art in Japan

5. Modern Japanese Literature
Japan’s defeat in WWII greatly influenced writers
disaffection
loss of purpose
coping with defeat
A stress on the inner lives of characters is often evident in Japanese fiction
Buddhist tradition emphasizes self knowledge and the impermanence of the material world
Alienation in the modern urban jungle is another common theme

6. Japanese high school students and seifuku

7. Japan in WWII
The Axis Alliance of Germany, Italy, and Imperial Japan is created in 1936
Japan at war with China from 1937
Hoping to dominate Asia, in December 1941, Japan attacks and conquers U.S. and European possessions in the Pacific
At its peak, Imperial Japan’s possessions include Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, parts of China, Malaysia, French Indochina, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), Philippines, Burma, parts of India, and other Pacific Islands
Japan defeated in numerous naval battles in 1942
Japanese navy decisively defeated by the U.S.; Japan surrenders when U.S. invasion of home islands becomes imminent (15 August 1945)

8. Modern Japan

9. Shusako Endo
Among Japan’s most renowned 20th Century authors
Unique perspective as a Japanese Catholic (baptized at age 11)
Born in Japan, but moved to Dalian (Japanese
occupied Manchuria) as a child
Began college as medical student, but shifted to
literature with focus on French Catholic writers
Worked at munitions factory when WWII
interrupted his university studies
Suffered from poor health: spent 2 years in a
hospital; thought poorly of Japanese medicine

10. Endo: themes and motifs
Complex moral dilemmas
Christianity; oppression of Japanese Christians
Outsiders, foreigners, alienation
Hospitals, patients, doctors, disease

11. When I Whistle, 1974
Setting: Kansei, Western Japan

12. Kansai…. Western Japan
Sumiyoshi – Ashiya - Nishinomiya

13. WIW: themes - generation gap; clash in values between old and new Japan - futility and tragedy of war; also, its effects on a generation that has known it - Japanese hierarchies and social norms - acceptance vs. ambition - honesty and integrity - brief encounters that give life meaning

14. WIW: symbols & motifs Aiko’s fountain pen the color white
the beach (and its changes)
Nada (and its changes)
trains
diseases (cancer, TB)
weather

15. Useful References Traditional house and apartment building
Fusuma and traditional futon preparation
Ofuro

16. the ‘belt’of the kimono
Bean Cakes
Obi –
the ‘belt’of the kimono
Useful References
Japanese Calligraphy

17. Sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aesthetics#Wabi-sabi